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└ Österreichische Post AG
50,000 postal roll containers always in view
Austrian Post uses Sigfox 0G technology to keep an eye on its 50,000 roll containers and more than 2,000 swap bodies at all times - for more efficient logistics processes and optimized procurement management.
Austrian Post delivered around 4.1 billion letters and direct mail items as well as 200 million parcels in 2023 alone. A huge fleet of roll containers and a total of 2,400 swap bodies for truck transport are used for transport between the individual post offices, postal partners, logistics centers and delivery bases. To ensure smooth processes, these must always be available at the right time and in sufficient numbers at the various postal locations. Together with Heliot, Austrian Post's IoT Competence Center (IoT CC) has developed a system that can be used to track the location of containers and swap bodies. Thanks to the Sigfox 0G radio technology, Austrian Post has a precise overview of its assets and can thus efficiently clock their distribution, minimize transport routes and optimize the inventory of assets.
Austrian Post’s six letter and nine parcel logistics centers are a hive of activity: trucks filled with letters and parcels roll up to the loading ramps almost every minute, waiting to be sorted and prepared for onward transport.
Several million items pass through Swiss Post’s logistics centers every day.
Efficiency and precise systems and processes are essential to ensure that the letters, parcels and packages reach their recipients in Austria and around the world as quickly as possible.
Swiss Post uses special roll containers for transport within and between the approximately 1,700 post offices, postal partners, delivery bases and logistics centers.
There are four different versions with different equipment and sizes, depending on the type of consignment to be transported.
“Roll containers play a crucial role in our processes. It is crucial that we always have a sufficient number of the right containers available at all our locations so that we can process and transport all consignments efficiently,” says Franz Leitner, Head of Logistics Centers and Transport at Austrian Post.
"Roll containers are very important for our processes ...
With Heliot, we have found the optimal solution.
With the Sigfox 0G technology, we always have our containers in view, can optimize our processes, avoid losses and reduce the costs for our containers.
Optimized processes require maximum transparency
Previously, distribution was based on experience and on call.
If there were too few containers available in a logistics center, those responsible had to call for supplies from other locations.
This was time-consuming, often required nerves of steel and also necessitated additional investment: “In order to optimally supply all our locations, we previously had to keep a large proportion of our container stock as a buffer – especially in order to be able to cushion seasonal fluctuations around Christmas, for example. With the average cost of a container at 600 euros, this represents additional costs in the millions,” adds Franz Leitner.
It is clear to those responsible: in order to optimize the processes surrounding the roller containers, more transparency is required as to where the individual assets are located.
They therefore commissioned the post’s own IoT CC to find a solution.
They turn to the IoT provider Heliot.
The company, which now exclusively operates the Sigfox 0G network in many European countries, advises Austrian Post and develops a concept together with the IoT CC.
The result: the roll containers are gradually being equipped with transmitters.
These transmit their location data to a cloud via the Sigfox-0G network.
The data is then retrieved via an interface and analyzed using a data tool developed by the IoT CC.
Container data analyzed precisely for employees
“We have now equipped around 50,000 of our roller containers with Heliot transmitters. Among other things, these transmit a signal with coordinates and a timestamp, ideally accurate to within a few meters, whenever they are moved. This means we know exactly where each of our roll containers is and when. Each asset has its own digital fingerprint. For example, we can also tell exactly what type of container it is,” says Lukas Alber, Data Engineer at Austrian Post’s IoT CC.
“However, the individual data alone is not enough to improve our processes. That’s why we have developed an analysis tool that aggregates the data from all containers and outputs it appropriately for our colleagues in the logistics centers or in procurement, for example.”
For example, the managers of a logistics center receive information via a dashboard or directly by personalized e-mail on how many roll containers are currently available, how many are expected to be needed and in which other locations they can request containers – in other words, all the information they need to cover their requirements.
One particular advantage of Heliot’s transmission technology is its service life: “Thanks to the Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology, the transmitters that we use on Austrian Post’s containers are particularly low-maintenance,” says Martin Liboswar, Country Manager at Heliot Europe.
“Once installed on the containers, they transmit their signal reliably for several years without the need to change the batteries.”
The Sigfox technology operates in a frequency range of 868 MHz.
The low-frequency signals in these radio bands can easily bridge greater distances of up to 50 kilometers – even if they are in more remote locations – and also penetrate thick steel beams and concrete walls.
The Sigfox 0G network is now available almost everywhere in the DACH region and many other European countries.
In addition to the DACH region, network coverage is also largely seamless in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, the Benelux countries and the Baltic states.
"We have now equipped around 50,000 of our roll containers with Heliot's transmitters. With this technology, we often know exactly where each individual container is located to within a few meters. In combination with our specially developed analysis tool, we can provide our colleagues in the logistics centers or in procurement, for example, with exactly the data they need to manage the containers and swap bodies in a personalized and fully automated manner"
Container tracking even across national borders thanks to Sigfox 0G network
Heliot also found a solution for the few Austrian Post locations where the network was not quite optimal.
“We developed local transmission technology that employees could install themselves with little effort and connect to the internet. This enabled us to achieve good network coverage in a very short time,” says Martin Liboswar.
The well-developed Sigfox 0G network has another advantage for Austrian Post: “Of course, we also have a lot of consignments that go abroad,” says Franz Leitner.
“Keeping track of the roll containers that cross the border was not so easy in the past. Thanks to Sigfox’s cross-border network coverage in Europe, we can now keep an eye on our assets even when they are in Italy, Switzerland or Germany, for example.”
Heliot’s technology can be used for numerous Industry 4.0 applications and is particularly efficient – as there is no need to set up an independent wireless network, which is expensive and requires a lot of maintenance.
The system is also freely scalable, regardless of whether 50 devices – or tens of thousands of transmitters, as is the case at Austrian Post – need to be integrated into the network.
Sigfox technology offers the highest security and data protection standards.
Austrian Post has been using the Heliot system for around two years.
Roll containers are constantly being equipped with the trackers.
In addition, Austrian Post now also uses the technology to localize the approximately 2,400 swap bodies that the company uses for both road and rail transport, around 1,000 of which now have a tracker.
“Heliot’s technology enables us to organize the distribution of our assets much more efficiently,” says Franz Leitner.
“Thanks to the commitment of Heliot’s consultants, we have found the optimal solution for our processes. The greater transparency also allows us to plan better and significantly reduce our buffer of containers and swap bodies. At the same time, we always have an overview of our assets, which means we lose fewer containers and swap bodies. The system not only helps us to make our processes more efficient, but also to significantly reduce procurement costs and increase the service life of our assets.”
Roll containers always in view
Project:
Tracking of 50,000 roll containers and more than 2,000 swap bodies to make logistics processes more efficient and reduce procurement costs.
Industry:
Logistics / Transport / Post / Parcel
Challenge
- Ensuring the availability of 50,000 roll containers at various locations
- Optimization of logistics processes through precise location tracking
- Reduction of procurement costs through efficient inventory management and minimization of losses and buffer stocks
Solution
- Implementation of IoT-based location tracking for 50,000 roll containers together with Heliot
- Development of an analysis tool for data aggregation and process optimization
- Provision of personalized real-time data for employees in logistics centers
- Reduction of buffer stocks and minimization of losses
- Long-term, low-maintenance system with high network coverage and scalability
Benefit
- Increased efficiency of logistics processes thanks to precise location tracking
- Reduced procurement costs thanks to optimized inventory management
- Minimization of losses and buffer stocks
- Improved planning and resource allocation through real-time data
- Longer container service life due to lower maintenance requirements
- Scalable solution that also works across national borders
